afrol News, 7 August - Algerian state-owned company Sonatrach has announced yesterday four new gas and oil discoveries in Algerian south, Sonatrach said in a statement.

According state owned media, Algérie Presse Service, discoveries have been made following the drilling of Issaouane Nord west, Tin Tadda Sud, Nechou north and Medjbeb.

The find was in the perimeter of In Amenas in the basin of Illizi with a flow rate of 7,342 cubic metres an hour from the holder of Ordovicien with a pressure of 1220 PSI.

A find in El M'Zald Sud perimeter in the Oued Mya basin produced a flow of 14.5 cubic metres an hour of oil and 2.45 cubic metres an hour of gas. Another find in the El M'Zald Sud perimeter produced 2.2 cubic metres an hour of oil.

On Monday Sonatrach announced three gas finds in the Sahara desert. Gas was found by Sonatrach and its partner StatoilHydro in Hassi Mouina perimeter in the Gourara basin and tests showed a flow rate of 9,167 cubic metres an hour.

Out of the 13 hydrocarbon finds in Algeria this year, seven were by Sonatrach alone and six in association with partners.

The total number of oil and gas in OPEC-member Algeria rose to 20 finds in 2007 from 18 in the previous year.

Algeria pumps about 1.4 million barrels of oil per day and exports 62 billion cubic metres of gas a year, mostly to Europe.

The country ranks fourteenth in petroleum reserves, containing 11.8 billion barrels of proven oil reserves with estimates suggesting that the actual amount is even more. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that in 2005, Algeria had 160 trillion cubic feet of natural reserves, the eighth largest in the world.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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